Railway-mail-delivering apparatus



v 0. M. GILBERTSON.

RAILWAY MAIL DELIVERING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12, 1919.

Patented Sept. 21,1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

0. M. GILBERTSON.

RAILWAY MAIL DELIVERING APPARATUS. A

APPLICATION FILED JUNE12, 1919.

.PatentedSept. 21,1920.

I 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2- LEI E Q A a. M. "muszmson.

RAILWAY MAIL DELIVERING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12, I919.

- Patented Sept. 21, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3 0. 772. dzZfievZawv 0. M. GILBERTSON.

RAILWAY MAIL DELIVERING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4- Patented Sept. 21, 1920.

If 1 l 1 l/ h 7 \kti I I Mail-Delivering Apparatus; and I do declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and

' apparatus may be employed regardless of State of WVisconsin, haveinvented certain unrrr o'r'ro M. eI BnRTson', onnn cnossn, wlscoivsm.

a citizen of the United States, residing at La Crosse, in the county, ofIiaCrosse and new and useful Improvements in Railwayexact description ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

My invention has for its principal object to provide a comparativelysimple, yet a highly efiicient and reliable means for delivering mailbags from" moving trains, without the danger of injury either {to thebag or its contents, and in carrying out this object, other objeots areto provide a traveling car to receive the sack; to provide for slowlychecking the movement of the car after the sack is deposited therein;and to devise an arrangement whereby the entire the direction in whichthe train is traveling.

With the foregoing in' view, the invention 7 resides in the novelconstruction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed,the descriptive 'ma'ttenbeing supplemented by the accompanyingdrawingsforming a part'of this application.

- Figure-1 is a perspective view of the invention showing the same inreadiness to deliver a sack of mail.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section through one of the mail cars and thetracks of the receiving car; showing an elevation of the different partscarried by said car and tracks.

" ried arm and the thereon.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the plane of line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is'a vertical section on the plane of line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Figs. 5 and 6 "are detailvertical sections through the sliding arm andits guide, as

seen on the Fig. 2. c

Fig. 7 isan endelevation of the car car- 'bag holding means plane oflines 5-5 and 6+6 of I Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7 butillusrating the reversible h d of the holding in means in sectionlfl 1 vFig. 9 is'a horizontalse'ction on the plane of line 9-9 of Fig. 7. I

Fig. 10 is a disassembled perspective of. the car carried arm and itsreversiblehead.

.another application.

RAILwAY-MAIL-nnmvnnme' rrAnA'rUs. V

bag receiving car and associated parts. I v F1gs12and13 are transversesections on the planes'indicatedby the lines 12-12 and fofFig. 11. f n pThe present disclosure includes a hired unl t F-disposed at one sideoitthe railway tracn' nd a traveling unit T mounted ona mall car of atrain, and both unlts are constructed 1n. a novel-manner. The traveling,a longitudinal section of the it .unithowever forms the subject matterof The unit F includes a mail bag receiving car 1 having wheels 2traveling on tracks 3,

and a'shock absorber' 'f to gradually brin'g said car to a standstillafterthe 'mail has been deposited'therein. The'car 1'is open at its topand at one end, while its opposite end is closed and is provided withabumper 5 which" is preferably hinged as'seenat 6 in Fig. '11, andprovided with a' shock absorbing spring 7 A sack strikes the bumper 5'when it is received in the car 1,. and'the. shock thus greatlyabsorbed, such shock, however, serving to start the car 1 along itstracksf3. against the checking action of the shock absorberj i. I

v The tracks 3 maywell be loca'ted'on a longitudinally extendinghorizontal frame 8 centrally pivoted at 9 forswinging' horizonfromtrains approaching in either direction. Suitable] supports 10 may beprovided for the ends of the frame 8 and said ends are I tally toposition thecar 1 for receivingmail to oneposition or the other.Suitable means 12 are provided for locking theframe 8 j against movementwhen itis properly set.

Not 'onlyrislthe car' '1 mounted on the carried thereby, and'althoughsaid shock frame 8, but'its'shock absorbertislikewise absorberinight'vary in form, it preferably consists of a fixedcylinder13,'a'piston 14,

' a pistonv rod 15 connecting the piston with the car 1, and anysuitable valve or connection 16.for permitting slow escape of air "fromthe cylinder, this arrangement being illustrated most clearly in Fig.'11. It'will thus be seen that when the'car 1 is rapidly moved'byfdepositing of the mail sack S therein; it must move against theresistance caused by the expulsion of. air from the cylinder 13 by thepiston'l l, and this serves to gradually bring'the car to a standstill.

roller 17 may well be mounted on the lower end of a hanger 19 dependingfrom the 'piston rod and clamped against an arm 20 which extendsdownwardly from the bottom of the car 1. Although this constructionmight be followed, others could be used to equal advantage.

The traveling unit T is illustrated most clearly in Figs. 2 to 10, saidunit including a guide 21 hingedly mounted at 22 on one side of the mailcar, for swinging against the side of the latter as seen in dotted linesin Fig. 3 or for disposition at right angles to the track as seen infull lines. Suitable hooks 23 and 24 or other preferred means may beemployed for holding the guide in either of its positions. The upperedge of the guide 21 is provided with a roller 25 located at the innerend of said guide, while another roller 25 is mounted in the lowerportion of said guide, at its outer end. horizontal slide bar or arm 26is slidable in the guide and has its inner end 27 offset downwardly fromits outer. end, said outer end resting on the roller 25, while said end27 extends under the roller 25. The outer end of the arm 26 carries themechanism for holding the mail sack and consequently there is a downwardstrain on the outer end of the bar and an upward strain on the inner endthereof, but these strains are received by the rollers 24 and 25 andthus the bar may be slid in or out with ease. A handle or the like 28may be provided for this purpose if desired.

The outer end of arm 26 carries a reversible, horizontally swinging head29 which might be connected thereto in any adequate manner, althoughintermeshing knuckles 30 and a pivot pin 31 are preferably employed forthis purpose. The head 29 may be of any suitable shape, but in mostinstances 'I prefer to construct the same in the form of an inverted Lwith the knuckles 30 on the vertical arm thereof, while the horizontalarm 32 serves to support the sack S.

Any, suitable means may be employed to hold the head 29 in either oneposition or the other, according to the direction in which the train istraveling, but I prefer to provide the outer end of arm 26 with a fixeddisk 33 having openings 34 through which a pin-35 is insertible, saidpin being slidably carried by the head 29, for instance, in a lug 36 atthe lower end of said head.

By any suitable connection, I attach the mail sack S to a ring 37 andpass such ring over the horizontal arm 32 of the head 29,

and I employ a novel latch mechanism for holding the ring in place onthe arm until the sack is deposited in the car 1, and for then releasingsaid ring to permit the arm 32 to withdraw therefrom. In the presentshowing, I have illustrated a vertical lever 38 fulcrumed in a slot 39in the arm 32 and provided with a downturned end 40 to eX- tend over thering 37 said end being normally held in a socket 41 in the arm 32 bymeans of a coiled spring or the like 42 which normally holds the lever38 in position to hold the ring 37 against removal. The lower end oflever 38 forms a trip to strike the upper end of the bumper 5 or arelease plate 43 carried by the car 1, and it will be seen that thislever is in front of the sack S. Thus, by the time the lever is releasedby contact with the receiving car, the sack has been deposited in saidcar against the bumper 5, which starts the'car along'its tracks 3.

After its use, the slide bar 26 may be drawn into the car, and I mayprovide spring detents 44 and a lug 45, carried respectively by theguide 21 and bar 26, for yieldably holding said bar in either projectedor retracted position. The shape of the lug 45 and its manner ofco-action with the detents 44, is illustrated most clearly in Figs. 1and 5, said detents being adapted to snap into a central depression withwhich said lug is provided.

In operation, the sack S is hung by the ring 37 upon the head 29 andheld by the lever 38, said head being swung to the proper position,according to the direction in which the train is traveling. The slidebar 26 is then projected, after first swinging the guide 21 outwardlyfrom the wall of the car and anchoring it by means of the hook 23. Inthe meantime, the car 1 has been positioned at the ends of the tracks 3to receive the sack S, and when said car is reached, said sack and thelever 38 strike the same at approximately the same time. The lever 38 isthus released to allow the head 29 to withdraw from the ring 37, leavingthe sack or sacks of mail in the car 1. The shock of receiving the mailis decreased to a large extent by the bumper 5, but never theless thecar 1 is caused to travel along the tracks 3. However, the shockabsorber 4 slowly brings the car to a standstill so that the sacks maybe removed, after which said car is returned to the receiving end of thetracks. After delivery of the mail, the arm 26 is of course drawn intothe train and its guide 21 is then folded against the wall of the coachas indicated in dotted lines in-Fig. 3. By swinging the frame 8 and thehead 29 to one position or the other, the device may be used regardlessof the direction in which the train is traveling.

From the foregoing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,it will be seen that although my invention is of and since probably thebest results are obtainable from the details disclosed, they may well befollowed. I wish it understood, however, that within the scope of theinvention as claimed, considerable latitude is allowed for makingnumerous minor changes.

I claim:

1. In a railway mail delivery apparatus, a mail bag receiver open at itstop and at one end, said receiver being disposed at one side of arailway, an arm extending laterally from a railway car and having arearwardly directed portion at its outer end parallel with the railwayand adapted for loose reception in a mail bag supporting ring, and alatch for holding the ring on said arm, said latch having-a rearwardlymovable releasing arm in front of its ring engaging portion to strikesaid receiver and release the latch, thereby permitting said rearwardlydirected end of said arm to withdraw forwardly from the bag supportingring. a

2. In a railway mail delivery apparatus, a track at one side of therailway, a receiving car movable along said track, means carried by arailway car for holding a mail sack in position for reception in saidreceiving car, a releasing trip device for said holding means, and abumper in said receiving car adapted to be struck by said trip deviceand by the mail sack. V

3 Ina railway mail delivery apparatus,

a track at one side of the railway, a receiving car movable on saidtrack, an arm extending laterally from a railway car, a reversible headon the outer end of said arm, means on said head to hold the mail sackin position for reception in said receiving car, and means for releasingsaid holding means when the sack is deposited in said receiving car;saidreceiving car,'in addition to said head, being reversible to permitthe apparatus to operate regardless of the direc- 7 means pivotallymounting the center of said frame to permit horizontal swinging thereofto reverse the-position ofthe'car, fixed supports upon which the ends ofsaid frame rest when in either position, and means for locking saidframe normally against turning.

my hand. v OTTO M. GILBERTSON.

In testlmony whereof I have hereunto set'

